Men’s basketball: No. 14 Cyclones run away from Akron, into DHC title game

Monday

Dec 23, 2013 at 4:14 AMDec 23, 2013 at 10:01 AM

HONOLULU — Georges Niang led a quartet of double-digit scorers with 22 points, and No. 14 Iowa State rolled Akron, 83-60, in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

HONOLULU — Georges Niang led a quartet of double-digit scorers with 22 points, and No. 14 Iowa State rolled Akron, 83-60, in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Cyclones (10-0), who moved up three notches in the AP poll to start the week, will play the winner of the South Carolina-Boise State semifinal for the tournament championship on Christmas Day.

ISU’s 10-0 start matches the best in program history, with Tim Floyd’s 1996-97 group the only other to reel off 10 wins to begin a season.

"I thought today was a big game," ISU coach Fred Hoiberg said. "I think that team (Akron) has a very good chance of being in the (NCAA) tournament. I really like their roster. They can shoot, they’re big, they’re tough. They cause some problems. But I thought our defense took a step in the right direction with our rotations out of the double team. We were solid all night long."

Niang, who scored 15 in the second half, scored more than 20 points for the fourth consecutive game. Melvin Ejim followed 21 with Dustin Hogue adding 18 and DeAndre Kane chipping in 15 along with 11 rebounds and five assists.

"In the second half, we found our rhythm on offense and the way we did that was with our defense," Niang said. "We felt if we could stop them on defense and get them in transition, we’d be good to go."

The Zips (6-3), who led by as many as eight with 8:59 left in the first half, saw the Cyclones dominate in the second half.

Iowa State shot 53.6 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from 3-point range, and knocked down 87.5 percent of its free throws (14 of 16). The Cyclones had 40 rebounds to the Zips’ 30. Ejim led ISU with 12, seven on the offensive side, to notch a double-double.

"We got all the loose balls in the second half," Hoiberg said. "I thought (the Zips) got the majority of the 50-50 balls in the first half. But once we did that, out-rebounding that team by 10 was big. We felt that was a big key coming into this game. We did a good job going after the second shot. We told our guys that’s where the game begins."

The Zips opened the second half looking as if they would make it a game, scoring the first four points to pull to within 37-36 at 18:21. They stayed within striking range after Pat Forsythe’s jumper pulled Akron to 42-41. But a 3-pointer by Niang ignited ISU’s 13-2 run and the rout began.

"I thought we got tired," Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. "Mentally, we didn’t handle adversity very well. We didn’t’ shoot the ball well, which affected us defensively. We took too many 3s."

The Zips were 11 of 35 from 3-point range compared to Cyclones’ 9 of 19.

"They did a good job of doubling us in the post," Dambrot added. "We had some open looks we didn’t’ make. That turned into easy baskets for them and when things went poorly, we didn’t handle it very well."

McAdams led the Zips with 13 points, followed by Diggs’ 12 and Demetrius Treadwell’s 10.

The tournament has an off day before the championship. Hoiberg’s concern is keeping his players rested for the title game. The team will conduct a walk-through today.

"That’s the big thing, taking care of business," Hoiberg said. "We saw Pearl Harbor earlier in the week. Was a great trip; really glad we did that. The important thing with the off day is to make sure our guys stay off their feet for the championship game on Wednesday."